The Baltic University in Exile was established in the displaced persons camps in Germany to educate refugees from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the aftermath of the Second World War.
The University was established at Hamburg in the British Zone of Occupation in March 1946, with aid from UNRRA, the Lutheran World Federation, and other groups.
In early 1947, it was moved to a former Luftwaffe barracks in Pinneberg (Eggerstedt-Kaserne) and renamed the Displaced Person's Study Centre.
The University's following presidents were Vladas Stanka (1948–1949) and Eduards Šturms [lv] (1949), assisted by three (Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian) national rectors.
In 1947 it was written that "The Baltic DP university with about 170 professors on the teaching staff and 1,200 students in eight faculties and 13 subdivisions has been running for three semester.